


Dalliance

by AsterHowl



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Genre: F/F, also Lou/Nine Ball, bold claim and I stick by it, but this is pure Nine Ball/Tammy fluff go to woe, the most precious ship in the fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-03 22:22:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16334342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsterHowl/pseuds/AsterHowl
Summary: Tammy can't face going home and drops by 9's.





	Dalliance

At first, when she spots the woman sitting at her bar, Nine Ball is pleasantly surprised to see a friend. Then, as the dim and the hour and the people it attracts begins to emphasise the inherent fragility of her suburban primness, Baller is compelled to be closer to her and quickly. She’s pretty sure that her patrons wouldn’t start anything, but she isn’t so naive she doesn’t see that in a neighbourhood like this, at an hour like this, Tammy is a target. 

As she draws close she considers removing her own jacket and throwing it over the painfully conservative blouse and sweater combination she imagines Tammy probably showers in. Instead she steps around the bar and relieves her employee from bartending duty. Ever alert, Tammy looks up at her sudden appearance. Her mouth opens but all she does is stare.  
Nine Ball gives her an appraising look of her own until Tammy snaps out of it.  
“Hi. I’m sorry. Hi. Nine Ball.” The woman fidgets. 

“Are you crazy?” Nine Ball leans back, arms folded. “D’you know what time it is?”  
Tammy blinks. “Uh...o-one? I-in the morning? Thereabouts?”  
“Are you crazy?”  
Tammy frowns. “Are you my mother?”  
“What are you doing here?” 

Tammy pouts and shifts more comfortably, more confidently, on the stool. “I like it here.”  
“I mean at this hour. Why aren’t you at home? Safe? In bed? All cuddled up with your man?” Nine Ball leans the heels of her palms on the counter behind the bar. When Tammy doesn’t respond right away Baller notices that her gaze is directly down her cleavage. A lot of words do get lost down there. Tammy seems to have misplaced her whole voice. 

“That’s a bloody good question. What the hell are you doing here?” The Australian has a voice somehow gruff and smooth all at once. She has emerged from the back, pulling the cuffs of her shirt through her jacket sleeve. This one is dark plum, and sleek. They’re always sleek, but this one especially. Or maybe it’s just the way Lou begins to glide around the pool table and collect a cue that lends the suit a special elegance that would only look ordinary on anyone else. She plants the cue on the ground and leans on it while she gives Tammy a disapproving if amused look. 

Tammy, again, attempts to speak but fails to produce actual words. Nine Ball takes the opportunity to say, “Far as I can tell she came here to stare at my tits.”  
Tammy blushes hard and her mouth opens as though her soul is escaping.  
“I don’t blame ‘er.” Lou’s tone exists on a note somewhere between sincerity and affectionate teasing. It is a note only Lou can sing. It is the beginning of a song that makes Tammy squirm. 

She stammers again while Lou and Baller share a look.  
“I was not...” Tammy looks between them, or attempts to. Her head turns to Lou but her gaze sticks to Nine Ball for a second. Another second. Two more seconds. Then she successfully completes the transition and Lou arches an eyebrow that lets Tammy know she’s pinging all over her gaydar.  
“Anyway, what are you doing here?” Tammy asks, being as unsubtle as anyone can be changing the subject.  
“Oh I’m definitely here for Nine Ball’s tits.”

Lou smirks at Nine Ball, and lifts the cue to hold behind her shoulders, finding a way to angle her body in a way that makes Tammy swallow and cross her legs tightly.  
“Seriously, Lou. I thought you were still on that trip. When did you get back?”  
“Last week.”  
“Last week?!”

Nine Ball is pouring a glass. Tammy looks so hurt. Her voice gets quiet.  
“Does Debbie know?”  
“Yep.”  
Nine Ball pushes the glass across the counter.  
When Tammy looks back at Nine Ball she sees it dawn on her. “So, what, you just didn’t tell me you were back in town?”

“Didn’t know you cared.”  
“Why wouldn’t I care? Why didn’t you tell me?”  
Lou reaches over for the freshly poured glass and tosses it back, pressing her lips tight together to endure the burn. “I guess I thought your rule was still in effect.”  
“My rule?”  
“You know the one. The one you made five, six years ago that Debbie and I, but especially I, cannot, under any circumstances, call you or try to contact you in any way.” She points a finger. It extends from the side of the now empty glass. “Remember?”

Tammy throws her hands up and brings them down on her knees with a slap. “Are you kidding me?”  
“Hey, I respect your right to start a new life.”  
“You never thought maybe our recent...business venture...meant that the rule had been lifted?”  
“Not for me. Debbie, sure. But not me.”

Nine Ball begins pouring another glass, nudging it to where she thinks it’s out of Lou’s reach. Then nudges it a little more. The woman has very long limbs.  
“What are you, eight? Did we pinkie swear?” Tammy intuitively reaches out for a drink and Nine Ball slides it quickly into her waiting hand. The housewife tosses it back, coughs and shudders, making Baller smile fondly. 

“You fucking,” Tammy pauses to cough politely into her arm and then continues, “Jerk.”  
Nine Ball has to swallow because hearing Tammy swear suddenly makes her mouth water.  
“You kiss your kids goodnight with that mouth?” Lou sets the empty glass down on the counter.  
“New rule. Just for you.” Tammy coughs again and sets her own glass on the counter. Nine Ball begins refilling them both. “You have to tell me.”

“Tell you what?”  
“Things!”  
“Such as?”  
“Everything! Anything! Just....” Tammy bites her lips. Her eyes are suddenly gleaming. “Don’t...fucking leave me out.” She waits. She waits for Nine Ball to finish pouring the glass. Then she takes it and holds it in her hand, arm resting on the counter. “Not again.”

“Okay that’s the second time you’ve used that word tonight,” Nine Ball notes.  
“Sorry.”  
“No, I like it. It’s hot.”  
Tammy blushes at the idea that Nine Ball could think anything about her was hot. “I’m just sick of people treating me like I don’t matter.”  
“Hey, I never treat you like that.” Nine Ball holds her hands up.  
“I know.” Tammy winces and reaches over the counter. “I don’t mean you.” She clasps Nine Ball’s hand in her own.  
“So you just mean Lou, then?” The hacker throws a sideways glare. Lou returns the look with the faux shock acknowledging that the bar owner had taken the other woman’s side.  
Tammy sighs. “Not just Lou.”

“Deb?” Baller begins refilling Tammy’s glass again. She’s impressed she’s been able to knock so much back and is keen to see her limit.  
“No. She’s been pretty good to me. Lately anyway.” She takes the glass when she feels it nudged into her hand. She lifts it and holds it up with her elbow planted on the counter. “Though I am a little pissed off she didn’t mention Lou was back.” Tammy takes a sip and Nine Ball glares again in Lou’s direction.

Lou tuts and flicks her hair, sticking an indignant tongue into her cheek. Tammy begins to scull which momentarily distracts them both because they can’t quite reconcile the sight with reality.  
Without looking back, Lou holds out her arm, letting the cue slip from her fingers to lean neatly against the pool table. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was back.”  
“That’s alright,” Tammy says when the contents of her glass are gone. 

“Oh Tammy, Tammy.” Nine Ball shakes her head. “You really gonna let her off that easy? Stand up for yourself, girl!”  
Tammy holds up a hand and lets it flop limply. “Psh. What’s the point. She’s never taken me seriously.”  
“Didn’t you drive here?” Lou asks, suddenly concerned. “Do you need me to take you home?”  
Tammy’s fingers tense around her glass. “I don’t wanna go home just yet.”

Lou and Nine Ball share a look for the third time. They are both concerned, not least about letting her husband and kids see her drunk.  
“Come on.” Lou walks up behind her. Tammy waves her away and Nine Ball has to imagine the sight of Lou throwing the woman over her shoulder and marching out of the bar, because it definitely looked like that was Lou’s intention.

“It’s fine. She can stay with me tonight.” Nine Ball gives Lou a small but reassuring smile.  
“Make sure she texts her husband.” Lou goes over to the coat rack to grab her jacket. “Let him know so he won’t worry.” She throws it on, flicking out her hair, and then tucks her helmet under her arm.  
Baller nods. “I will.”

“Thank you,” Tammy says, now that Lou is gone, and they are both sitting at the bar with a bottle between them, and her voice is slick with drink and grained with gratitude.  
“No problem. Besides, I reckon seeing you get drunk is gonna be pretty funny. Don’t wanna miss that.”  
Tammy nods. “Oh drunk Tammy is a singer.”  
Nine Ball grins. “A singer, huh?”  
“I put on one hellova show.”  
“I bet you do.” She begins pouring Tammy what she has decided should be her last drink.

“No. It’s very embarrassing. My family are ashamed.”  
Nine Ball hesitates. The tone of Tammy’s voice has alerted her to the fact that her smile is gone, and the light that was in her eyes has dimmed.  
“They would certainly have the right to be, if they found out who I really was,” Tammy says.  
Nine Ball remains silent. Tammy has had more than enough to drink to keep her talking. She doesn’t have to encourage her. 

“I’m supposed to be a mother. I’m supposed to teach my kids right from wrong. I’m supposed to scold them when they do a bad thing. Meanwhile, here I am still congratulating myself on pulling off one of the biggest robberies of the century.”  
Nine Ball would be worried that she could be overheard but the only people left are hunched over on tables on the other side of the room, and the gently playing blues is enough to hide Tammy’s sins. 

“My husband has no idea. He looks at me and he gives me that smile. The one that says that he’s so proud of what I’ve been able to achieve for an ordinary mom. It takes everything I have in me not to just scream in his face. You know?” Tammy gratefully draws in the freshly filled glass Nine Ball offers. 

“Not that I can blame him. I chose this,” she sits back and indicates herself. “I chose all of this precisely because I wanted people to underestimate me.” She lets out a piteous laugh. “It used to thrill me. The way people would look at me, as though they’d seen all they needed to see to know the most I would be able to achieve in life was keeping the laundry fresh and the dinner table set. And my heart and my lungs would vibrate inside my chest because I knew, if I wanted, I could take them for all they were worth.”

She pauses to take a sensible sip of her drink and then holds it on the counter in both hands. “My kids look at me now and...I feel sick. I’m risking so much. Debbie told me how much the job would be and I looked at what I had and...it scares me that I wasn’t satisfied. What kind of mother am I that her kids aren’t enough for her?” 

“That’s one way of lookin’ at it.” Nine Ball leans an elbow on the counter as Tammy looks up at her, wounded by the validation of her worst fears. “But I think you saw it as a way to provide for your kids. Make sure you’d be able to take care of them. No matter what. Kids get into trouble. They get hurt. They get sick. They have dreams and ambitions. You’d never have to worry.”

Tammy seems entranced by her voice, or her eyes, or some other feature she finds particularly enchanting because she is silent and staring for several moments, finger stirring idly the rim of her glass. Then she smiles. 

“I wish that’s what I’d been thinking. But we all know I did it for the thrills.”  
Nine Ball watches Tammy take another gulp of her drink. “And what’s so bad about that, huh? You’re not just a mom. You’re not just anything. You are a woman. With passions, desires. You’re allowed to want things, Tammy. Don’t you let anyone make you feel ashamed for that.”  
Tammy sets the glass back down and looks up at Nine Ball with sad, dark eyes and a lopsided smile. “I think you’re flirting with me...”

“Yes, ma’am.”  
Tammy smiles a little brighter. “I’m blushing aren’t I?..”  
Nine Ball gives a slow, single nod. “It’s very cute.”  
“Oh...” Tammy pushes the glass away, puts her brow on the counter and folds her arms over her head to hide. “I won’t be so cute when I’m puking in your bathroom,” she says, her voice muffled.  
Baller spots a barely exposed ear, peaking out between locks of tousled blonde hair and from behind fuzzy cardigan sleeves. She leans down close to it.  
“You always look cute.”

Tammy tries to burrow deeper under her own arms.  
“Should I stop?” Nine Ball asks.  
“...No.” It’s a tiny sound.  
Baller smirks, because she’s relieved she hasn’t caused offence, and because her partner in crime is being endearing. 

She crosses her legs and clasps her fingers together around her knee. “Do you really come here cause you like it here or cause you like me and you think I’m cute?”  
Her response is still muffled under her arms. “Cause I like you and I think you’re beautiful.”  
Nine Ball throws her head back and squeals softly in delight.  
“And cause you’re nice to me even though I’m old and boring.”

“Well, first of all,” Nine Ball says, holding up a finger that Tammy can’t see. “Cut that shit out cause you’re a straight up hottie. And second of all, you’re the most badass motherfucker in the whole group.”  
When Tammy emerges from her fuzzy cardigan den, hair askew, she looks doubtful.  
Nine Ball begins picking strands of her hair and putting them tenderly back in place. “I mean, all Debbie did was plan. You were the one in the thick of it, coordinatin’ and shit. You were the one who got everyone in place. Hell, if you fucked up, we were all screwed. But you ran that shit like a boss.”

Tammy sits quietly, letting Nine Ball play with her hair, letting her words revitalize her malnourished soul.  
“And I’ll tell you.” Nine Ball dips her head so she’s under Tammy’s downcast gaze. “You looked good doin’ it.”

She can see the corner of Tammy’s lips curve into a small smile.  
“I watched you, you know. On the security cameras. I was supposed to be keepin’ an eye on things but I couldn’t take my eyes off o’ you.”  
Tammy snorts.  
“I mean, I dig the baggy mom-jeans look, but damn.”  
Tammy shoves her. “Pervert.”  
Nine Ball grins, but then notices Tammy balking. “You okay?”

“I’m gonna be sick.” Tammy clasps a hand over her mouth and awkwardly feels herself down off the stool.  
“Bathroom’s through-”  
Tammy takes off through a narrow archway at the back of the bar. Nine Ball isn’t too concerned. Tammy visits regularly after work. She’s just never shown up this late on a Friday before. Signalling someone to take over the bar for her, Nine Ball follows after Tammy.

When she finds her in the restroom the woman is on her knees, face in the bowl, heaving heavily. Nine Ball moves quickly to gather her hair, and rub her back. Each heave comes so soon after the last she barely has time to breathe, and Nine Ball grimaces at the way her ribs move and her body shudders under her hand. 

“Oh...” Tammy sobs before retching again.  
“I’m here. I got you.” Baller runs her hand between her shoulder blades and down her spine in firm, fluid motions. It makes her cringe when she hears Tammy struggling for breath because her stomach is evacuating too much, too often. 

Tammy sobs between heaves, each time thinking it’s over but lurching forward again when her guts decide they aren’t done.  
Nine Ball huddles down on the floor, concentrating on combing her hair, softly, comfortingly, drawing it into a ponytail she cradles in one palm, and then the other. 

Tammy spits and coughs. “I bet I look real cute now.” She quickly runs the back of her wrist across her nose and sniffs.  
“Honestly?” Nine Ball gets down to be level with her face. “You never looked cuter.”  
“Oh.” Tammy purses her lips and her cheeks bulge as she tries to keep from hurling again. Gaining control she releases her breath, saying, “Fuck off.”

She pulls away, sliding against the wall of the cubical until she’s sitting on the tiles. Nine Ball starts unwinding the tissue roll and letting Tammy clean her face.  
“Feel better?”  
Tammy tosses the used tissue into the toilet bowl and looks at her, drained and relieved. Baller stands and helps her up.  
“There’s still about twenty minutes till closing. Why don’t you wait for me in my office. Come on.” 

She makes Tammy sit on an old blue sofa and fetches her a bottle of water from a minifridge. She opens it and brings it back to her, but has to wiggle it in her face before she’ll take it. She doesn’t move until she sees Tammy start to sip from it. Then she combs her nails lightly into her hair, strokes her cheek with the backs of her fingers, and exits through the door.

As she’s walking back to the bar her phone vibrates in her pocket. Lou is asking if Tammy is okay. Nine Ball texts back that she’s about to send her to bed, and leaves out the part about her being sick. Lou responds immediately; bring a bucket  
Nine Ball smirks and shakes her head, thumbs tapping; we past that.

By the time she reaches the bar her phone dings again. She looks down and sees a puking emoji. She snorts and is about to put her phone away when another message pops up.  
Take care of her.  
Nine Ball smiles. I will.

There are only a few people left to send home before locking up. Nine Ball bolts and locks the door, gives it a firm shake, and then turns to see Tammy leaning in the small archway. Her pale face is washed clean, and without her makeup appears faintly angelic. 

“I’m sorry.”  
“What for?” Nine Ball approaches stands in front of her, hand on hip.  
“I’m an uninvited guest.”  
“You’re a welcome guest. Any time. You know that. But just you, though.” She boops her nose with a finger, feeling her heart swell at the way Tammy smiles and chuckles exhaustedly.  
“Oh, but, didn’t Lou come sauntering out of here earlier looking freshly fucked?”  
Nine Ball blinks. The back of her neck burns. Tammy just grins and huffs.  
“Relax. Not like I’d kick her outa bed either,” she says.

Nine Ball releases a breath of tension, shakes her head and folds her arms. “You are just lettin’ it all out tonight, huh?”  
Tammy smiles bashfully again. She picks at the grain of the doorframe with a nail. She rests her head against it and bites her lip. “I honestly don’t know what I’m doing tonight.” 

“If you think I have any expectations...” Nine Ball says, suddenly concerned she may have put too much pressure on her. Tammy holds up a gentle hand to stop her but she wants to be clear. “Cause I jus’ want you to be happy.” She starts fidgeting. “And know that I like you. And I think you’re hot. But I don’t expect anything. Ever.” She waves her hands horizontally in a criss-cross motion. 

Tammy is grinning at her. “Smooth.”  
“Don’t tease! I’m being serious.”  
“I know. It’s very charming. And I appreciate it.”  
Nine Ball wants to remember her like this, leaning against the doorframe, exhausted but happy and smirking at her awkward attempt at being chivalrous. She looks so out of place, but so at ease. 

“Come on,” Nine Ball says, stepping forward. “Let’s get you to bed.” She takes her hand and leads her up a narrow stairway, closed in by tall, dark brick walls. She lives above the bar in a large room sectioned off by ornate fold out divider walls. The bed is still in disarray, but Tammy just smirks at her. 

“See you warmed it up for me.”  
Nine Ball slips out of her hand and quickly straightens the sheets out and fluffs the pillows. Tammy chuckles at her sheepish expression.  
“It’s uh, I mean...It’s clean.” Baller sniffs and scratches her nose.  
“It’s fine,” Tammy assures her with a smile. She sits on the edge of it and begins taking off her shoes, flexing her toes with a moan that makes Nine Ball swallow. 

“I’ll take the couch,” Nine Ball points.  
“No, Leslie.” Tammy looks up at her imploringly. Nine Ball feels her cheeks go hot at the use of her real name, but she likes the sound of it in Tammy’s voice. The woman looks down at her lap. “You don’t have to...”

Nine Ball nods. As she walks around the bed, she lets her fingers linger in Tammy’s hair. She undresses, leaving her boots and socks on a chair and draping her jeans and jacket over the divider. She slips her bra off through her shirt and turns just as Tammy is pulling open her blouse. The blonde catches her eye, lets it slip down her arms, and then folds it up, leaving it on a neat little pile on a small dresser next to the bed. 

Nine Ball indulges in the sight of her in her underwear, simple and functional and, despite the modesty of their design, incredibly alluring. Tammy catches her staring and blushes, a deeply pleased smirk on her face. “Been a while since anyone looked at me like that.”  
Nine Ball only vaguely registers that she says anything at all. “Your man need his eyes checked.”  
Tammy huffs as she draws back the covers and crawls under them. Nine Ball joins her, mirroring the way she snuggles down and lies on her side, facing her. For a while they are silent. 

“Kiss goodnight?”  
Nine Ball’s heart skips a beat. She pushes herself up and hovers over her, taking in the sight of Tammy bracing herself for the fulfilment of her request. Nine Ball turns her head and lowers herself slowly, pulse spiking when their lips meet, heart swelling at the little squeak of surprise Tammy makes, because she didn’t expect anything so intimate and electrifying and when Nine Ball rises up again there are tears in Tammy’s lashes and she is biting her lip as though to trap the kiss and keep it there. 

Nine Ball nestles down onto her pillow again, gazing at the woman in her bed. Tammy keeps gazing back at her, eyes glinting in the dim light.  
Nine Ball reaches out her pinkie and lightly touches Tammy’s finger. “Go to sleep.”  
The breath Tammy takes in shudders and comes out in a deep sigh. She closes her eyes and Nine Ball remains awake for most of the night, because she can’t bear to deny the sight of Tammy sleeping right beside her.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to leave requests in the comments. I will write anything :P


End file.
